Abnormal Psych: Ch 4

Anxiety

A negative mood state characterized by bodily symptoms of physical tension and by apprehension about the future

Fear

Emotion of an immediate alarm reaction to present danger or life-threatening emergencies

Panic

Sudden, overwhelming fright or terror

Panic Attack

Abrupt experience of intense fear or discomfort accompanied by several physical symptoms, such as dizziness or heart palpitations

Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)

Brain circuit in the limbic system that responds to threat signals by inhibiting activity and causing anxiety

fight/flight system (FFS)

Brain circuit in animals that when stimulated causes an immediate alarm-and-escape response resembling human panic

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Anxiety disorder characterized by intense, uncontrollable, unfocused, chronic, and continuous worry that is distressing and unproductive, accompanied by physical symptoms of tenseness, irritability, and restlesness

Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia (PDA)

Fear and avoidance of situations the person believes might induce a dreaded panic attack

Agoraphobia

Anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult

Panic Disorder without Agoraphobia (PD)

Panic attacks experienced without development of agoraphobia

Panic Control Treatment (PCT)

Cognitive behavioral treatment for panic attacks, involving gradual exposure to feared somatic sensations and modification of perceptions and attitudes about them

Specific Phobia

Unreasonable fear of a specific object or situation that markedly interferes with daily life functioning

Blood-injury-injection Phobia

Unreasonable fear and avoidance of exposure to blood, injury, or the possibility of an injection. Victims experience fainting and a drop in blood pressure.

Situational Phobia

Anxiety involving enclosed places or public transportation

Natural Environmental Phobia

Fear of situations or events in nature, especially heights, storms, and water.

Animal Phobia

Unreasonable, enduring fear of animals or insects that usually develops early in life.

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Excessive, enduring fear in some children that harm will come to them or their parents while they are apart.

Social Phobia

Extreme, enduring, irrational fear and avoidance of social or performance situations.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Enduring, distressing emotional disorder that follows exposure to a severe helplessness- or fear-inducing threat. The victim reexperiences the trauma, avoids stimuli associated with it, and develops a numbing of responsiveness and an increased vigilance and arousal.

Acute Stress Disorder

Severe reaction immediately following a terrifying event, often including amnesia about the event, emotional numbing, and derealization. Many victims later develop posttraumatic stress disorder.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Anxiety disorder involving unwanted, persistent, intrusive thoughts and impulses, as well as repetitive actions intended to suppress them

Obsession

Recurrent intrusive thought or impulse the client seeks to suppress or neutralize while recognizing it is not imposed by outside forces

Compulsion

Repetitive, ritualistic, time-consuming behavior or mental act a person feels driven to perform